BCCI to issue show cause notice to Kale

Kolkata:India's cricket chiefs gave suspended player Abhijit Kale 15 days to explain his conduct after charging him with trying to buy his place in the national team.

A three-man disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which met here on Thursday for three hours, examined the findings of the preliminary inquiry by Bar Council chairman D V Subba Rao.

"We have gone through the report submitted by Subba Rao and found a prima facie case against Kale," said BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, who sat on the disciplinary committee with vice-presidents Kamal Morarka and Ranbir Singh.

"Accordingly we have framed charges against Kale and decided to issue a show cause notice to the cricketer."

Dalmiya, however, declined to expand on the charges against Kale and added the committee will meet again after receiving a reply from the cricketer.

Two national selectors, Kiran More and Pranab Roy, alleged in a written complaint to the BCCI last month that Kale offered them each a bribe of one million rupees (22,000 dollars) to be picked for the current tour of Australia.

Kale, who was suspended from cricket till the inquiry was completed, vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has appealed to the courts to be allowed to continue playing.

Subba Rao, who spoke to Kale and the two selectors, recommended to the BCCI there was a "prima facie case to proceed further".

The scandal is the biggest to hit Indian cricket since the match-fixing saga three years ago that led to life bans for former captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma and five-year suspensions on fellow internationals Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar.

Kale, 30, has been a prolific scorer in domestic cricket with 6,806 runs in 84 first-class games at an average of 58.67, including 24 centuries.

He made 10 in his only International appearance in a limited-overs tournament in Bangladesh in April and was not considered for the recent home series against New Zealand or the Australian tour.